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Deforestation, corruption and evictions: the Ogiek of the Mau Forest, Kenya

The Ogiek indigenous community is a hunter gatherer group who depend on the forest for food, medicine, shelter and preservation of their culture. They are foresters and conservators of nature, and so live in places where trees, birds and wild animals provide them with psychological comfort.

The Ogiek have a population of about 20,000 people throughout Kenya inhabiting mainly the Mau Forest Complex in the Great Rift Valley Province, and Mount Elgon. Approximately 15,000 Ogiek live in the Mau Forest Complex, which they have occupied for at least 150 years. The Mau is divided into 22 areas, with Ogiek inhabiting 12 of these (Marishooni, Nesuit, Saino, Sururu, Kiptungo, Sogoo, Nkaroni, Tinet, Sasimwani, Oltpirik, Nkareta and Olmekenyu).

However, in common with most indigenous people, the Ogiek have no title deeds evidencing their propery rights over the land. Common problems faced by indigenous groups include the lack of “formal” title recognition of their historic territories, the failure of domestic legal systems to acknowledge communal property rights, and the claiming of formal legal title to indigenous land by the colonial authorities.

In July 2008, the Kenyan Government launched an aggressive campaign to evict people living in the Mau Forest Complex that it deemed to be living there “illegally”, including the Ogiek, ostensibly in order to protect Kenya’s forests. The action was taken in response to concern about the loss of forest cover in Kenya and its wide-ranging negative impacts, including drought, loss of livelihood and reduced access to basic environmental services such as clean water.

The Mau Forest is one of five main water catchment areas in Kenya, feeding Lakes Victoria, Nakuru and Natron and supporting the ecosystems and livelihoods in the Maasai Mara National Park and the Serengeti. However, according to the Ogiek Peoples Development Programme and the international NGO Survival International, the main cause of loss of forest cover is the more recent encroachment of purely commercial interests, including logging and the clearing of forests for human settlement and agriculture, not the activities of the Ogiek and other indigenous people living there.

Fortunately the Kenyan government has temporarily rescinded its plan to evict Mau Forest inhabitants and the Mau Forest Task Force (which originally recommended the eviction of forest dwellers and is charged with developing and implementing a plan to preserve the Mau Forest ecosystem) has now incorporated members of the Ogiek Elders Council. MRG sees this as a positive step towards inclusion of this important indigenous group in decisions which will affect the development of a delicate environment so crucial to their survival.

MRG’s Head of Law, Lucy Claridge, went to gather evidence in the Mau Forest in June 2010 for an ongoing legal case in support of the Ogiek community.

For more information contact MRG's Press Office in London

T: +44 (0) 207 422 4205

E: emma.eastwood@mrgmail.org

or

The Ogiek Peoples Development Programme

Daniel M.Kobei

Nyamakoroto Hs. 2nd floor Rm. 210

Biashara Street - NAKURU / Kenya

P.O BOX 424-20115 Egerton

E: : opdp2001@yahoo.com or dkobei@yahoo.com

T: +254-20-2045167

M: +254-722-433-757

Gallery

Click on image for larger view

Nesuit, Eastern Mau. The area has mostly been deforested; a line of remaining indigenous trees can be seen in the background MRG-GAL-1410Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Sign on Nesuit chief's office. Corruption, endemic in Kenya, has caused Ogiek many problems, e.g. Ogiek land being given to other ethnic groups or lack of access to justice in courts MRG-GAL-1411Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Taken from Marioshoni in Eastern Mau. All land used to be forest. The road itself was built by loggers for access MRG-GAL-1412Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Eviction notice which was clearly displayed on the chiefâ€™s and the forestry office in Marioshoni (although it relates to Southwestern Mau) MRG-GAL-1413Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Nesuit schoolchildren. Schools are often overcrowded and many Ogiek do not have the chance to go beyond primary school, or are forced to trek many miles to reach school MRG-GAL-1414Download High Res Download Low Res

Timsales logging company truck in Eastern Mau. This was the only photograph MRG shot of logging activities. We were told that we didn't have a 'piece of paper' and without that taking photos of logging is 'illegal' MRG-GAL-1415Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Arriving in Sasumwani, Maasai Mau. Much more indigenous forest present here. The community at Sasumwani was evicted in 1986 but managed to resettle in the 1990s, though the situation is still precarious MRG-GAL-1416Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Getting to Sasumwani means a 3km trek through forest on a slippery path, though very beautiful there are many access problems. Women in labour have to be carried by villagers to reach the road MRG-GAL-1417Download High Res Download Low Res

River on the way to Sasumwani. Villagers lived in temporary homes here for over 10 years when they were evicted, facing threats from Maasai who own adjoining land, and generally living in poverty and facing problems of ill health MRG-GAL-1418Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

Road to Maasai Mau from Nakuru is mainly mud which takes several hours to pass and is especially bad in the rainy season. We were lucky as we had a 4WD but most people rely on the â€˜matatuâ€™ or minibuses MRG-GAL-1419Download High ResThis file may be low resolution. Please check before using it for print Download Low Res

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